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Katherine Eban's interview, book and article illustrate the difficulty with regulating foreign generic drug manufacturers as it revolves around an honor system such that the FDA takes it on face value that the data being submitted for drug approval is legitimate. However, in the case of several drugs manufactured by Ranbaxy, it was completely fraudulent. Moreover, there was a global recall on Ranbaxy's generic atorvastatin as it was found to contain particles of glass. Ranbaxy was fined $500 million, but no one was prosecuted since they are outside of the FDA's legal reach.

The author suggests mitigating problems such as these by insisting on the "authorized generic version" of a drug. This is the generic that was approved by the original branded pharmaceutical manufacturer made under their guidelines. However, such authorized generics do not exist for every name brand drug. Moreover, there are cases where patients may not have a choice due to their insurance company's guidelines.

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And yesterday I received an email from The Partnership for Safe Medicines, saying that people should not buy B-50 from Healthy Life Chemistry by Purity because it my contain dangerous amounts of anabolic steroids!

An Itinerary in Light and Shadow Completed Dr Charles Stratton / Dr David Wheldon abx regime for aggressive secondary progressive MS in June 2007, after four years. Still improving with no relapses since starting. Can't run but can paint all day.

on and on. not counting those that got other illnesses from these drugs and adds misery or death.

the fines they get are intimadatng when you hear the amt.'s "if they really ever pay them." but think about it. it's murder! murder can carry the death penalty. think how many more murders there would be if the penalty was a fine.

that's the problem, greed and the love of money is killing humans and the planet and no amt. of money or fines will be able to fix it. they all need to be held more accountable. i know what i'd do if in charge---do you think they would merely give little ole me a fine?

now, i do realize these articles are mostly about counterfeit drugs but none the less wrong is wrong. the article on pakistan they did arrest, shut down and take legal action. don't think those guys will be on the streets anytime soon. china executed one so he's off the street. "wish they would have nailed and Done the same to the ones responsible for the poison cat and dog food too!"--but, sadly there are plenty of these rats to fill the void. -- but, fines alone would not sit well with me if i or a loved one suffered or died. when they do catch up with any one of these filthy dirty greedy rats--they should be made to take their own medicine-and that would only be the beginning. might make some think twice about things.

that's the problem, greed and the love of money is killing humans and the planet and no amt. of money or fines will be able to fix it. they all need to be held more accountable.

How very true!!

And this greed is not just limited to foreign drug makers. Look at the companies that make the CRABs and other powerful MS drugs...they are all fined by the FDA for false advertising on their MS drugs yet look at it as the cost of doing business. I wonder if they would continue to do this if the CEOs faced jail time if convicted!

And look at my favorite Biogen....their execs made millions of dollars on selling their stock before Tysabri was initially withdrawn. Wave big money in front of people and they are capable of doing almost anything...how sad.

These articles are a very good reason not to trust the drugs. With all the news showing it is all about the money with these jokers why take the chance. The FDA is in bed with the drug companies. We can get better when we choose the proper diet. It is so simple. Go to the diet section and it is free. Try different diets until you find the right one. How do you know it is the right one? When you get your health back. There is no magic pill which will do that.

want2bike wrote:These articles are a very good reason not to trust the drugs. With all the news showing it is all about the money with these jokers why take the chance. The FDA is in bed with the drug companies. We can get better when we choose the proper diet. It is so simple. Go to the diet section and it is free. Try different diets until you find the right one. How do you know it is the right one? When you get your health back. There is no magic pill which will do that.

The unfortunate part of these kind of reports is that it tends to taint ALL the drug companies. But like any kind of business you have the GOOD companies and NOT SO GOOD companies. There are several good drug medications out there that have helped people big time. And of course, we have the "crooks" out there as well who don't give a damn about the health of patients. It's a mine field out there trying to figure out the good from the bad!

Do you have the names of any good drug medications? Do they have any side effects? When drugs have side effects that is your body telling you the drug is toxic. Some people have died taking MS drugs because death is one of the side effects. These doctors will not tell you that because it would not be good for business. According to Hippocrates the father of western medicine, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food". It still works today. When we get the knowledge we get better. The only good in the world is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. Only you can give yourself good health and no doctor can do it for you.

How about the rabies vaccine that can save those who contract the virus from an animal thus avoiding a nasty death? Then there is a drug (forget the name) that if given to a stroke victim within a few hours, can reduce the damage by up to 90%. Also certain medications to treat Bipolar patients, allowing them to lead a relatively normal life. Prokarin, an alternative MS medication, did wonders for my wife and had no side effects at all....yet this same drug did absolutely nothing for other MS patients. I could go on and on.

Are all drugs safe for everyone? Of course they aren't. What works wonders in some patients can be devastating for others. Some people have terrible reactions to aspirin, some die from MS medications yet others benefit from these same drugs. Thousands die from medications every year because patients and doctors don't always work together with common sense.

You can't paint everyone with the same brush and apply what happens for some to all. That's not how the world and science works...there are always variables. Having a good doctor, good diet, good exercise and using medications sensibly and reasonably is always a good practice.

One of the main issues with medication is the fact everyone is so willing to go to doctor to correct there cholesterol, blood pressure, headaches etc. instead of dealing with the issue themselves through diet and exercise. Increased use will expose more people to POSSIBLE side effects, so its no wonder many are getting sick from meds they dont need. Unfortunately not all ailments are cured with such simple means, Multiple Sclerosis being among them.

One fact I heard last week was crazy... America is responsible for 90% of worldwide consumption of Ritalin. Parenting kids is hard, so give them a drug to dope them into compliance?

One of the main issues with medication is the fact everyone is so willing to go to doctor to correct there cholesterol, blood pressure, headaches etc. instead of dealing with the issue themselves through diet and exercise.

And then there are those patients who go to Dr A, Dr. B and Dr C. to get their prescriptions. But Dr. A hasn't a clue that Dr. B and Dr. C are in the picture and you now have the patient getting different rxs from different docs. Some of the these drug combinations can be lethal and the patient doesn't need all of these medications. So while drugs have to be taken carefully and responsibly you can't blame the drugs for causing problems that originate from this kind of circumstance.

Was on vacation in Arizona recently and couldn't believe all the drug advertising that I saw on t.v. The side effects that had to be mentioned in the ads were amazing yet the ads encouraged people to go out and get this drug to "feel better" from their problem. It's called "take the pill to feel better" mentality...no wonder so many people die in the US from these drug mixtures.

blossom wrote:the fines they get are intimadatng when you hear the amt.'s "if they really ever pay them." but think about it. it's murder! murder can carry the death penalty. think how many more murders there would be if the penalty was a fine.

that's the problem, greed and the love of money is killing humans and the planet and no amt. of money or fines will be able to fix it. they all need to be held more accountable. i know what i'd do if in charge---do you think they would merely give little ole me a fine?

I agree with this

selling fradulent pharmaceuticals is clearly a criminal act and should be subject to criminal punishment. I don't think we should accept any drug supply from any country that does not have a local government which will cooperate in aggressively prosecuting such criminals.

"Follow-up radiographs were obtained for 1946 women (98% of surviving participants). 78 (8.0%) of women in the alendronate group had one or more new morphometric vertebral fractures compared with 145 (15.0%) in the placebo group (relative risk 0.53 [95% Cl 0.41-0.68]). For clinically apparent vertebral fractures, the corresponding numbers were 23 (2.3%) alendronate and 50 (5.0%) placebo (relative hazard 0.45 [0.27-0.72]). The risk of any clinical fracture, the main secondary endpoint, was lower in the alendronate than in the placebo group (139 [13.6%] vs 183 [18.2%]; relative hazard 0.72 [0.58-0.90]). The relative hazards for hip fracture and wrist fracture for alendronate versus placebo were 0.49 (0.23-0.99) and 0.52 (0.31-0.87). There was no significant difference between the groups in numbers of adverse experiences, including upper-gastrointestinal disorders."

Do you think osteoporosis is a made up disorder or something? Do you have issues with the side effect profile?

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